"These ’disturbdances’ are a perfect free-form accompaniment to A Secret Wish (SALVOMDCD14). Proof that Propaganda are capable of divine interpretations and, if you’ve not already succumbed to their complex beauty, this could serve as an inspired introduction. These remix artefacts normally aren’t worth the plastic they’re engraved on but this limited edition is a real collector’s item. Call it a private indulgence.’ MELODY MAKER

Propaganda’s biggest hit, ’Duel’, is well known for its freaky alter ego, ’Jewel’. But less well known is this album, A Secret Wish’s disturbing counterpart, Wishful Thinking.

This refashioning of A Secret Wish into a whole new album is a definitive example of a lost art form, the ’remixalbum’, one of the formats and musical styles that made the middle of the 1980s quite different from any time before or since. Other classics of the genre had already been released by the time Wishful Thinking was created, with Soft Cell’s Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing, The Human League’s Love and Dancing and Imagination’s Nightdubbing, all acclaimed pop-dub masterpieces, all appearing within a matter of months, all remixalbums (not remix albums) - full length, cohesive, brand new works, not compilations of disparate mixes.

Salvo is proud to reissue Wishful Thinking (as element 23), superbly remastered with six bonus tracks, five previously unreleased, and a 12-page booklet featuring rare photos and an excellent new essay from compiler Ian Peel.

After the excellent double-CD reissue of the ’80s
German synth-pop chart-botherers’ debut masterpiece "A Secret Wish" in 2010 (it
even appeared in the Top 100 Album Chart second time around), the expectation
for a revisit of its sister remix-album was high. Nearly 18 months later,
"Wishful Thinking" arrives with less of a fanfare but still packed full of
rarities and unreleased pieces, gathered together from literally days of
mixing-desk outtakes and hard-to-find snippets, created by Trevor Horn, Paul
Morley and other ZTT luminaries...

...Perhaps what "Wishful Thinking" originally needed was a bit less repetition and
a lot more variety. The extra ’deviations’ contained here go some way towards
remedying the situation with rare versions of "Strength to Dream", "Frozen
Faces" and a remastered Beta Wraparound mix of P:Machinery, bringing the whole
thing to 74 minutes plus. The usual ZTT-style sleevenotes from Ian Peel ensure
that Salvo’s 100% record of spot-on remasters continues without a hitch.

8/10http://flipsideflipsidereviews.blogspot.co.uk

Why do we love it? Because it’s a remix album spin-off from Propaganda’s 1985 album ’A Secret Wish’, which is probably our favouritealbum ever, by anyone. Because it’s dancey, industrial and experimental and it’s still pop. Because it’s like nothing we’d ever heardbefore. Because now there’s even more of it... :-)

This Is Not Retro

A lot of thought, effort and time have been put into making the additional “Deviations” tracks blend perfectly with the original “Disturbdances”... However well intentioned the 2002 Outside World remix compilation album may have been, it never had the same impact, elegance or perfection that Wishful Thinking has, and now all of those qualities have been given a new lease of life.

10/10 The Art of Noise Online.com

The meticulous curation of ZTT’s back catalogue continues...

Tea & Symphony

Five excellent previously unissued bonus cuts (including an embryonic version of Frozen Faces) bolster this classy, gatefold-packaged reissue, while illuminating sleevenotes from RC’s own Ian Peel shed fresh light on the sessions.

4 starsRecord Collector

To listen to Claudia Brucken’s favourite songs on Spotify click on the link below: